"butternut", 1862

[Joel S. Berson]

The following antedates Matthew's citation from The Crisis.  It is
the only relevant citation searching simply for "butternut" (between
1860 and 1863) that comes up in EAN.  [Apparently I was mistaken in
an earlier message about The Crisis -- it does not show up in "19th
Century U.S. Newspapers" (or EAN).  Harvard tells me it is on the
Internet, but I can't tell from home where Harvard claims it is.]

Farmer's Cabinet, published as The Farmers' Cabinet.; Date:
12-18-1862; Volume: 61; Issue: 21; Page: [1]; Location: Amherst, New
Hampshire.  In a tale of "Joe Parsons of Baltimore", seemingly set in
a military hospital.  Joe, blinded at Antietem, tells his story,
about talking at Antietem to another soldier wounded there.]

'Well,' says I, 'you're a d----d rebel, but will you do me a little
favor? ... Well, ole butternut, I can't see nothin.'
-----

Joel

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